Chapter 5

"Who is that, so familiar?" Li Tie covered his mouth, stunned.

"It can't be..." Zhao Junzhe also looked uneasy.

The two exchanged glances and found the answer in each other's eyes. They almost shouted in unison as they ran over: "Brother Ma..."

A small accident happened. Who would have thought that the ball Liu Hao kicked would be so powerful, actually knocking down someone on the sidelines.

Although his shooting skills weren't great, the power was truly terrifying, making everyone look at him with new respect.

Everyone had the same expression; Ling Zhenbang admitted he couldn't kick the ball with such force.

The game was paused.

"Is he okay?" Liu Hao looked at the fallen man on the field, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Anyone who can shock Li Tie and Zhao Junzhe must be someone important," Ling Zhenbang sighed, feeling a bit uneasy.

Soon, Li Tie and Zhao Junzhe personally carried the man away, ignoring the game. It seemed that the man was indeed very important, just as Ling Zhenbang had thought.

The game resumed, but it was almost over, with less than ten minutes left.

Everyone was very cooperative, passing the ball to Liu Hao whenever possible.

Suddenly becoming the team's 'core,' Liu Hao was stunned.

He was a bit flustered.

His first touch was poor, even though the ball was just a slow roll from five or six meters away. His feet wouldn't listen, and he lost the ball.

How could he not be helpless when he couldn't even control such an easy ball?

However, no one blamed him. After regaining the ball, they still passed it to him.

The second time, he managed to control the ball.

But after getting the ball, Liu Hao didn't know what to do...

"Liu Hao, shoot!" Ling Zhenbang reminded him from the side.

The ball was passed to him for him to shoot. What else was he supposed to do?

Ling Zhenbang's reminder made Liu Hao suddenly realize, and he quickly got into position to shoot.

But his movement was like a slow-motion replay, too slow...

He had just swung his leg back when the defender from Aichao Industry stole the ball from under his feet.

Liu Hao didn't even notice, continuing to swing his leg.

Of course, he missed, and his obese body shook in the air, almost falling to the ground...

"This..." Everyone was speechless.

Even the opposing players were stunned.

How could such a person exist on the Super Team? It was truly bizarre.

It seemed that their teammates were all revolving around him, which was truly incomprehensible.

However, since they were already far behind, they had no heart for the game. They just wanted to pass the time, so they didn't even bother to commit fouls.

In the last few minutes, there wasn't a single foul.

Fortunately, there was still one corner kick!

"Shall I take this one?" Just as Ling Zhenbang was about to go to the corner flag, Liu Hao waddled over and volunteered.

What? This was completely unexpected for Ling Zhenbang. He had planned to pass the ball to Liu Hao during the corner kick, but now Liu Hao wanted to take the corner kick? Why was he so confident in his footwork?

"Okay, I'll wait for Liu Hao's corner kick assist..."

This was the last chance, and it had to be seized! Liu Hao gave Ling Zhenbang a grateful look and walked to the corner flag.

The previous shot was just an accident. Following his instincts, he believed he could do it this time. He focused his mind on the ball.

With just a light run-up, he kicked the ball.

Whoosh!

The ball drew a beautiful, large arc in the air, reaching the goal, but it didn't descend. It sailed over everyone's heads, even though they all jumped as high as they could. The ball was still three meters above their heads, completely out of reach.

"This..." Li Tie, who had just returned from the medical room, felt dizzy and almost fainted.

The ball, drawing a perfect arc, landed at the corner flag on the other side!

Buzz!

It hit the corner flag post right on target!

"Damn, what the hell!" Zhao Junzhe, standing behind Li Tie, exclaimed in surprise, "How can your team have such a bizarre player? This is interesting!"

"Um... He is a bit special, a bit special," Li Tie laughed, not revealing Liu Hao's identity.

"If this guy could shoot accurately, he would be quite valuable," Zhao Junzhe commented, "Just look at Brother Ma's face; the cigarette butt burned a deep hole..."

...

The referee's whistle was precise, exactly ninety minutes.

Liu Hao completed a friendly match in a daze...

He was on the field for ten minutes, touched the ball ten times, shot six times, hit the target twice, missed four times, and lost the ball seven times. The data was quite impressive, but in a tragic way.

As soon as the whistle blew, the Super Team players surrounded Liu Hao.

"Liu Hao, you did well."

"Liu Hao, that shot was amazing. If it had hit the goal, I bet the goalkeeper wouldn't have reacted."

"That corner kick was magical, hitting the corner flag on the other side!"

"From now on, we'll call you 'Liu One-Kick.' No one on our team has a harder shot than you!"

...

Liu Hao scratched his head, embarrassed.

He wanted to say that he could have done better, and that the free kick and corner kick could have actually gone in, but he swallowed his words. Who would believe him!

He was still puzzled about his performance, which was completely different from what he had expected.

Was his foot no longer effective?

"I can't kick like that unless I take expired aphrodisiacs, ha ha, I'm really envious," Ling Zhenbang was the last to praise him, and from his envious expression, it wasn't just flattery.

But these words made Liu Hao frown.

Expired aphrodisiacs? Could the medicine in the wine have expired? No, if it had expired, he wouldn't have been able to kick the ball with such force. It must be that the medicine was too strong, after all, he drank two bottles...

He had found the root of the problem.

But there was no regret pill to take. The only advantage he showed in the game was the power of his shots, but they lacked accuracy. Everything else was amateur level.

No one could guess Liu Hao's true thoughts. They just assumed he was there to have fun, and he had had his fun, so he should be satisfied.

Afterward, everyone returned to the locker room, and Li Tie gave a timely summary.

"Today's game was great. We played to our true level and style. This is what we need. In two weeks, I hope we can play at this level and smoothly advance to the Chinese League One."

"Xiao Ling, Coach Ma came to watch the game. He wanted to talk to you, but he's in the medical room now. You can find him later."

"Coach, which Coach Ma?" Ling Zhenbang felt a bit excited but wasn't sure.

"Of course, it's Coach Ma Mingyu from the national team. Who else did you think it was?" Li Tie laughed, "It seems no one from the second-tier league has ever been directly selected for the national team before. You might be the first."

"Ah! Was the person injured on the sidelines Ma Mingyu?" Huang Rongzheng, who was always full of schemes, immediately interjected.

These words woke Liu Hao from his daze.

How could his luck be so good? Just a random shot, and he hit Ma Mingyu?!

"Congratulations!" Everyone congratulated Ling Zhenbang, but Liu Hao was still sweating.

For Ling Zhenbang, today was a 'successful day,' but for Liu Hao, it was a 'day of failure'...

With a gloomy mood, Liu Hao hurried back to Qinzhou.

After spending two half-days in a distant dream, it was time to return to reality.

When he arrived at his in-laws' house, it was already 7 PM.

When he entered, everyone was already eating.

He was always treated this way.

"You're almost forty, and you still have no sense of time. It's already so late, and you just show up. I bet you wouldn't even know if your daughter was born! What's the point of marrying a man like you?" The first words he heard were his mother-in-law's scolding.

The education bureau chief always spoke this way. In front of his mother-in-law, Liu Hao was always an unpopular child.

"Enough, enough. You've been nagging since we started eating. Can't you stop? He's just like that, it's his habit," his father-in-law said, but Liu Hao still detected a hint of sarcasm.

"Can I not say anything? Look at how thin Yu has become, like a beggar. Now she's pregnant, and he's not even taking care of her. How can I not worry?"

"Who's daughter is Yu?"

"I shouldn't have agreed to this marriage in the first place!" Zhang Mama was getting more and more worked up, saying more and more unpleasant things.

...

These two were always hard to please. For five years, Liu Hao had been scolded by them for not coming on time.

He could only apologize, lower his head, and smile foolishly.

Fortunately, his wife Zhang Yu didn't think this way. She had already stood up and brought out a steaming bowl of rice from the kitchen.

Of course, there was also his adorable son, who had already run to his side to cuddle.

Although his in-laws were hard to please, he was fortunate to have a good wife and a well-behaved child. This was what Liu Hao was most grateful for.

Although the meal wasn't pleasant, he finished it carefully.

"Honey, are you feeling very uncomfortable? Just ignore them, they're just talking nonsense," Zhang Yu hugged Liu Hao's arm and comforted him gently as they left.

Every time they left the house, Zhang Yu would say the same thing. No man likes to be scolded by his in-laws.

"That's their way of showing concern. Don't worry, I'm not taking it to heart. Without them, I wouldn't have such a good wife!" Liu Hao smiled, hugging his wife and holding his son's hand. "And look how much they love Liu Bao. Parents' love is boundless."